It's been at their fingertips for a while now but Manitobans have not been dialling the province's secondary area code with any great frequency just yet.

The first 431 area codes were issued to wireless customers by MTS in December 2012, but most of the 360,000 numbers issued to carriers here are still available.

Paige Small was the first in Treherne to get one for her cellphone.

"I got mine last June because they were no longer giving out the 204 area codes here," the Grade 12 student said. "It didn't make much of a difference. When I gave my number out to my friends, I just had to remind them to put 431 into their phones, not 204.

"It has been cool so far, and I guess it's a bit unique."

In 2009, the Canadian Numbering Administrator forecast that the numbers for the 204 area code in Manitoba would be exhausted within a few years. In July 2010, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a province-wide overlay with area code 431.

"With the growth in wireless devices and new services in Manitoba, the area code 204 will eventually be exhausted," said MTS Allstream corporate communications manager Chelsea Ross. "The new 431 area code was required to address this growing need for additional phone numbers."

The new code will not be issued to landlines for quite some time, Ross added.

"It's been a smooth transition," she said. "People have taken to it willingly and we haven't heard of any problems with it."

The majority of the new numbers are being issued to rural areas with Holland being the first to get theirs from MTS Mobility.

"Sometimes, people see 431 and ask, 'Where the heck are you?' But it hasn't been an issue at all," said Holland's Don Hurton.

The CNA issued 36 blocks of 10,000 431 numbers to Manitoba carriers but is not known exactly how many of those are now active.

"People aren't keen on switching to 431," said Leslie Bester, the president of Les.Net that carries some 431 numbers. "And I can't say enough of what a competitive disadvantage it is for a business."

However, Winnipeg's David Langen of X.S. Technology Services Inc., actually wanted the new code.

"I grabbed it when it was first offered," said Langen, who thought it could become a prestige number. "I do voice over IPs (VoIPs) for customers and I wanted to test it to see what the market was for that area code ... But I haven't seen a lot of interest."

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431 area code slow to catch on

It's been at their fingertips for a while now but Manitobans have not been dialling the province's secondary area code with any great frequency just yet.

The first 431 area codes were issued to wireless customers by MTS in December 2012, but most of the 360,000 numbers issued to carriers here are still available.

Paige Small was the first in Treherne to get one for her cellphone.

"I got mine last June because they were no longer giving out the 204 area codes here," the Grade 12 student said. "It didn't make much of a difference. When I gave my number out to my friends, I just had to remind them to put 431 into their phones, not 204.